John, having owned Volvo's since 1980, and still driving IT, at 316,450 mi. I don't think that we can realistically expect the same trouble-free service from any of the highly complex newer Volvos. But then again my '74 wgn. is sparten. The only extra it came with is A/C. No power strg. no power windows etc. No computer either, total mechanical F/I. Has never let me down, but I do good preventative maintenance.

With that said, my wife and I bought a '99 V70 AWD last Sept. with 45,000 and it was "Volvo Certified". 6 yrs. or 100,000 mi. That should help mentally and $$$wise. We live in ice and snow at 3500 ft. I was well aware of the possible problems with the "Bevel Gear and the Viscous Coupling" before we purchased it. I looked for a '99 or '00 because of some small changes done. I also checked under for any current oil leaks. (salesman didn't like it when I told them I would buy it ONLY after they put it up on a hoist so I could chk. for leaks)....... but they did. I also preferred one with records of maintainance. The tires were about 60% worn, which I didn't mind, because if the tires were brand new, you couldn't tell if the previous owner had kept an eye on them. All were the same brand and size and thread depth and evenly worn across them. From understanding the bevel gear and the design of the viscous coupling, from getting the Volvo repair manuals, I feel confident that if I keep a close eye on the tires and pressures and wear of them, that the two expensive items will survive.

We paid $20,000 ... but, I wanted the "Certified policy" from Volvo, not an "as-is" from a car lot or private party, which were running $2-3000 less in the paper around here. The car is as new without a scratch anywhere. On a recent trip of 1200 mi., across Ore. and Nev., we got a low of 29.2 to 30.5 mpg with the cruise set on 65 mph. We were very surprised, considering that it is a turbo. (low pressure).

With regard to ice and snow, it seems unstoppable. We stopped to help someone who slid off the road, and not feeling the car slipping at all, I promptly slipped and fell on my tail bone when I got out.

To your comment as to 250,000 mi., for the drivetrain life expectancy ? Life is a risk. Tom

I am a Volvo person. My daily driver is my 1966 122. It is built like a tank, is rattle and trouble free all of these years. My wife's car is a 98 V70 XC. It has had almost all of the reported problems related to this model, in addition to twice being brought in for repairs to the viscous coupling drive. That in particular is a major fault with this years model and has of course, being out of warrantee, biased my opinion. This problem will surface between 40,000 and 60,000 miles and cost you about two grand! Hopefully the defect has been corrected in subsequent model years. On the other hand, I love its winter capability, driving comfort and cargo capacity. Your mechanical ability is of little value on these computer controlled cars unless you have access to expensive analysis machines. I took the car to an independent Volvo specialist and he declined to work on late model computer Volvo's because he couldn't afford a quarter of a million dollars for the necessary diagnostic equipment required if he was going to maintain a fair $40/hr rate. He directed me to take it to a properly equiped Volvo dealer which has a minimum charge of $80 per hour!

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